Defect structures, observed by I-129 Mossbauer spectroscopy in high-dose Te-doped GaAs, are identified by a reference study of the semiconducting compound GaTe3. The formation of Te(As)-V(Ga) complexes (tellurium atoms quasisubstitutional on an As site with a gallium vacancy in the first-neighbor shell) is proposed, in agreement with theoretical predictions. The relevance of this assignment in relation to the earlier proposed Te DX configuration is also discussed.